Monday, March 25, 2013

Easter Pillow Case- Tutorial

I have the cutest niece, Lindsay, who asked me just last week if she could have my pillow case pattern. She thinks it's a fun idea to lift the spirits of those around her. So I am not only going to show her how I made these but at the end I will add a link to a great pillow case tutorial video that will also make it clearer.

For this project you will need: I purchased 100 percent cotton, 45" width fabric.

7/8 yd. of your main pillow case fabric.
3/8 yd of complimentary fabric for the band.
Scraps if you are wanting to applique a name, or words.

Size finishes 30x20" - fits a standard pillow

Cut a 10" x 41" Strip for the band - Mine is pink floral.
Cut a 26 and 1/2" x 41" rectangle- Mine is turquoise floral

Hint: Make sure your fabric is ironed so there are no wrinkles or bunching.

I decided to applique names on mine. So I found a font on my computer that would be simple to applique around ie. a bold font. Then type the names or words you are wanting to applique onto your pillow case band. Play with the font size. I used a font that required size 140. Then Print it out.

This is the font I used. It is called

Berlin Sans FB

Then I used my light table to trace the letters onto 'Heat N Bond lite'. You can trace on a sunny window too. You will want to place the letters you are tracing backwards so that when you iron them on they will be straight.

This is on my light table. You see how I

have turned the actual name upside down

to do the tracing. You will trace on the paper

side of the 'Heat N Bond lite'.

See the tracing is backwards? Then iron the letters

onto the WRONG side of your scrap material.

Cut out your lettering.

Fold your band in half length-wise and iron.

It should be 5" wide now.

Then fold the band in half lengthwise (so 20 and 1/2")

and then mark the middle.

Then I placed a pin in the center of that (10 and 1/4")

so I could see where I would place my letters.

You will want to place the letters above the fold line.

The raw edge is at the TOP.

Use a ruler to center your lettering.

Your letters will be at the far LEFT of your band.

You can see that the letters are placed ABOVE the fold line.

Then when you have them centered. Pull the paper

back off of the Heat N Bond lite, and iron.

Press and lift. Do not rub iron back and forth.

Open the band to it's full 10" width.

DO NOT sew through the band when it's in half.

I use a computerized Bernina "Betty", and it has a 'blanket stitch' that I used to stitch the edges of the appliqued letters. If you don't have this on your machine, don't worry, you can also use a small, tight zig-zag stitch with a beautiful effect. :) You'll want to pick the same color as your letters. I chose a brown. But normally you should use the same color as your letters. This will hide a plethora of mistakes. So beginners should use the same color. Go ahead and stitch SLOWLY around each letter, and the insides of the a's, and e's, etc. It takes some practice. You may want to applique a few letters on some scraps before you sew on your actual pillow cases. Just so you get the feel for moving your material around so much. If you have a 'Needle Down' feature on your machine, use it. If not, try to drop your needle into the fabric before you pivot the fabric to turn a corner.

Lay your 10" band down FACE up and full length.

Place your pillow case body LONG way, FACE DOWN

So- Right sides TOGETHER.

Pin about every 6" along the top.

﻿

﻿

﻿

Remember, RIGHT sides should be together.

Now beginning at the BOTTOM edge of the pillowcase body...

(closest to you) begin to roll it towards the PINNED EDGE.

Like a burrito!

Once it is rolled, STOP when the burrito is on top

of your pressed line. Or, the MIDDLE of your band.

Then take the BOTTOM edge of your BAND up OVER

your burrito to align with the pinned edge.

Then re-pin those THREE layers together.

I pinned about every 3-4"

You should have THREE layers.

Once it's all pinned it should look like this.

Now you are ready to sew that pinned edge.

HINT: If you don't want a scaddy-wompus

top edge. Pin and walk your first few stitches.

Pinning those edges will make them nice and straight.

HINT: Make it a practice to NEVER run over a pin. ALWAYS stop your machine before you get to a pin and remove it.

I used my Serger "Bossy" I love how it finishes my edges

But don't fret if you don't have one. Just sew a straight seam.

This is what a serged edge looks like. It does a

straight stitch as well as a zig-zag on the edge.

If you want to put a zig-zag on your edge. Do it.

Once your burrito is sewn. Pull that burrito OUT.

Just like pulling a coat sleeve out of itself.

Don't worry..it WILL come out. LOL.

Once you pull it out...you may MARVEL that

all the seams are neatly tucked INSIDE the band,

and there are NO raw edges.

Because- that's how we roll!

(Like...BURRITO- pun intended)

Now take your pillow case to the ironing board and

using your finger tips to straighten that band...iron

both sides. Making sure the sewn edge is not bunched.

HINT: I iron the sewn edge but NOT the folded edge until I straighten the sewn edge of BOTH sides.

Then I laid my pillow case out BEFORE sewing the

side-seams and squared it up with my long ruler and

rotary cutter. See the excess strip I cut off? That would

have made the pillowcase lop-sided.

HINT: Good rule...Measure TWICE, cut ONCE!

Once the seam of your BAND is pinned to match.

Go ahead and sew the side, and bottom seams.

You may also want to zig-zag those.

Sorry some of my pictures turned out dark. :(

Turn the pillow case right side out and iron the

seams nice and straight like you did the band.

Ready for their boxes. :)

Voile! You are finished with your DARLING pillow case. Now go give it to some unsuspecting person who needs a fun surprise! Mine went in Cassi's Easter Care package for her and Hermana Hall (her very first Mission companion). There is also one for Taylor our dear friend up at BYUI, she is far from home this Easter. Home is in North Carolina. I wish I had time to make a dozen of these before Easter. But now YOU know how to make them...you can make one for you, or someone you know and love.

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About Me

Hi and welcome! I am Sandi and this is my blog. I am crazy about my family. I also REALLY enjoy quilting, embroidery, crocheting (I'm a TOTAL beginner), cooking, poetry, travel, reading & the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope you'll find inspiration, positivity, amusement, and friendship. I am so happy you are here. Come back often.

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